title: Synergistic bioleaching of chalcopyrite and bornite in the presence of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans.
abstract: Bioleaching of chalcopyrite and bornite in the presence of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans was carried out to investigate the influences between each other during bioleaching. Bioleaching results indicated that bornite accelerated the dissolution of chalcopyrite, and chalcopyrite also accelerated the dissolution of bornite, it could be described as a synergistic effect during bioleaching, this synergistic effect might be attributed to the galvanic effect between chalcopyrite and bornite, and to the relatively low solution potential as the addition of bornite. Significantly amount of elemental sulfur and jarosite formed on the minerals surface might be the main passivation film inhibiting the further dissolution, and the amount of elemental sulfur significantly increased with the addition of bornite. Results of electrochemical measurements indicated that the oxidation and reduction mechanisms of chalcopyrite and bornite were similar, the addition of bornite or chalcopyrite did not change the oxidative and reductive mechanisms, but increased the oxidation rate.
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Biohydrometallurgy of Ministry of Education, Changsha 410083, Hunan, PR China; School of Minerals Processing & Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, Hunan, PR China. Electronic address: alexandercsu@126.com.
authors.forename: Hongbo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Minghao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Wenqing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Yansheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Guanzhou
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Qiu
mesh_terms: D042763:Acidithiobacillus / Q000378:metabolism*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D003300:Copper / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D004566:Electrodes; D005296:Ferrous Compounds / Q000378:metabolism*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D013440:Sulfides / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005296:Ferrous Compounds; D013440:Sulfides; C550757:bornite; C012819:chalcopyrite; D003300:Copper
keywords: Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans; Bornite; Chalcopyrite; Synergistic bioleaching